


Firefight and Firewhiskey

by e_of_west_glendia



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Death Eaters, Drinking, M/M, Marauders era, Mild Angst, fluff-ish, talks about the war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:47:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24875638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/e_of_west_glendia/pseuds/e_of_west_glendia
Summary: Sirius worries about Regulus
Relationships: Remus Lupin/Sirius Black, wolfstar - Relationship
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Firefight and Firewhiskey

Remus walked up the stairs to Gryffindor tower. Well, less walked and more dragged himself. He'd just finished his Prefect rounds and he was absolutely exhausted. In general, it wasn't the most grueling of days, but anything can become tiresome when you're operating on three hours of sleep. Then of course, school itself is a mentally and emotionally exhausting thing. As he ascended Remus found himself wondering why their dorm had to be in a tower of all places. He found himself envying the Hufflepuff's and their basement dorms. Or even the Slytherin's in the dungeon, at least they didn't have to walk up this godforsaken staircase. 

Remus reached the top of the staircase and turned the corner. The portrait hole was in sight now. As he neared it, Remus realized that he didn't remember the password. Remus winced, he'd better remember it fast. He was in no mood to play guessing games with the Fat Lady, and he was fully prepared to fight the portrait for entrance to the common room. Although he wasn't quite sure how one goes about fighting a portrait. 

He'd reached the portrait hole now. The Fat Lady stared up at him, waiting for the password. 

Remus sighed, he figured he'd better guess. "Gillywater?" 

The portrait swung open and Remus breathed a sigh of relief. He ducked into the portrait hole and the door swung shut behind him. The walk to the common room was a short one; but it was long enough for Remus to create and start worrying about his mental checklist of all the homework he had. 

The Gryffindor common room was quiet. Which was a feat in itself considering the type loud, stupidly-chivalrous people who made up the house. A bright orange fire was lit serving as the rooms heat and only light source. Despite the warmth a cold draft blew through the room. Sucking out bits of warm air and giving Remus a preview of the cold winter to come. Remus went to close to the window and he started as he noticed another person in his presence. 

Sirius was curled up on the couch, the firelight casting long shadows on his face. A bottle of firewhiskey sat on the table in front of him. 

"Sirius," Remus greeted. "You scared the shit out of me." 

Sirius grinned, it was a lazy and sedated smile. A far cry from his usual mischievous one. 

"Boo." 

Remus rolled his eyes at him. 

"What are you doing awake," Sirius asked, his words we slightly slurred. 

Remus shrugged. "Prefect rounds." 

Sirius hummed by way of answer. He reached for the bottle of firewhiskey and took a long drink. Remus crossed to the other end of the room to close the window. 

"Are you drunk?" Remus asked, although he was pretty sure he knew the answer already. 

Sirius said, "I'm moderately functional." 

Remus snorted as he shut the window. "I'll take that as a no, then."

Remus crossed back to Sirius and took a seat next to him, plucking the bottle out of his hand as he was about to take another drink. Sirius shot him a glare that would've made most people shrink but didn't phase Remus in the slightest. 

Instead he simply said, "Drinking is bad for you." 

Sirius laughed. "Try telling you that at last week's party." 

Remus shrugged, guilty as charged. 

"That was different."

"How?"

"Because I wasn't trying to drown my sorrows." 

Sirius' frown told Remus that he had hit home. His grey eyes had that fractured look that they got whenever he was upset. 

Sirius released a sigh and his whole frame slumped. Remus sat up straighter, his earlier fatigue wearing off.

"It's Regulus." 

Remus repressed his own sigh. Sirius' brother was one of the constant stress factors in his boyfriend's life. Sirius loved Regulus dearly and the cold, uncaring attitude that Regulus directed at him hit Sirius like a ton of bricks. 

"What about Regulus," Remus prompted. 

"Well that's just it," Sirius said. "I don't know." 

Sirius ran his fingers through his hair, pulling frustratedly at the ink-black strands. 

"He won't talk to me, hell he won't even look at me. Anytime I go near him, he finds an excuse to go in the opposite direction. It's like I'm the wrong fucking end of a magnet or something, Re. I don't know what to do." 

Sirius closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch, letting his thoughts consume him. Remus just watched him in silence, hating seeing Sirius so frustrated and hating himself for not being able to do anything. 

After a long moment Sirius said, "I don't know, maybe I never should've left. Maybe I should've stayed stayed at home. Then I could've protected him longer - saved him. I managed to live with my family for fifteen years before I ran away. What was another year going to do to me?" 

Remus' face hardened, he grabbed Sirius' hands and tugged him up to look at him. 

"No," he said firmly. "You couldn't have stayed longer. I saw what that bitch did to you, Sirius, we all did. You spent your whole life protecting Regulus from them, constantly sacrificing yourself. Sirius, I don't want to think of what would've happened if you'd stayed a minute longer. God knows that if you tried to stick around for another year she would've killed you." 

Sirius flinched at Remus' bluntness. 

"Regulus loves you, I know that. He's just got an odd way of showing it. He'll come around, eventually. In the meantime you need to focus on you. You can finally breath now, Sirius. Let yourself, don't let Walburga win, not anymore - not again." 

Sirius nodded slowly. "Thanks, Re." 

Remus shrugged passively. "I was only reminding you of what you already know."

Sirius gave him a sideways grin. Then he leaned over and kissed Remus. When they finally broke apart Sirius leaned back against him, and Remus began to slowly card his fingers through Sirius' hair. 

"I think I want to go to sleep now." 

The slightly slurred words reminded Remus that Sirius wasn't at all sober. 

"Me too," Remus said.

Neither one of them moved, though. Both stayed where they were and they slowly fell asleep to the crackling of the fire and the warmth of each other.


End file.
